The Curse of Cupid
by Piont23
Summary: When Cupid turns to Nico for a favor, the son of Hades rubs the love god the wrong way. Now love around camp is running rampant, breaking off and starting up in the worst places. Unless Nico can stop Cupid, his curse will plague Camp Half-Blood forever.
1. Chapter 1

Nico sat on a crumbling stone bench, with no idea where he was or how he got there. Something about the place seemed eerily familiar: cracked marble columns leading off to nowhere, shells of buildings that had once been enormous, startling bright green grass.

"Hello?" he called out into the empty courtyard. He took a few hesitant steps forward, reaching for his sword. He suddenly realized it was gone, along with the rest of his normal clothes. Rather, he wore a traditional Roman toga and sandals, with no weapon to speak of. What in Hades was going on?

"Whoever brought me here, come out to face me!" he called out. He picked up a chunk of a marble column at his feet, prepared to fight with it if it came to that.

Suddenly he realized where he was. He had come to these ruins the previous summer with Jason Grace. "Salona," he grumbled. "Favonius! Why'd you bring me here?"

"My little wind god had nothing to do with it, Nico," a deep voice boomed through the temple, shaking the ground. A god faded into existence in front of him. It was a tall muscular man with a face like fire; beautiful and mesmerizing, but very clearly dangerous. His eyes were bright red, and they almost seemed to glow. Enormous white wings stretched out behind him, like an angel from a storybook. His straight black hair framed his face perfectly, making his face even more handsome. He was leaning on his bow; a fearsome weapon that looked to be carved from olive wood, which was ironic, given that this god was anything but peaceful.

"Cupid. What do you want from me?" Nico shouted.

"I think you know exactly what I want from you," he said cooly, smirking. Fear began to course through Nico's body like venom.

"Just send me back to Camp Half-Blood. I want nothing to do with you."

"Oh, but am I not what you most desire, deep down? Love?" Cupid crooned, stepping forward slowly. Nico backed up so quickly he ran into the bench and fell down onto it. Cupid was upon him in an instant, swooping forward with his powerful wings. He held Nico's face in his smooth hands.

"Let me go! I talked to Percy already, he knows the truth! Haven't I appeased you?" Nico shouted.

"I wish to help you, son of Hades. You wish for the company of another soul, don't you? I'm the only one who can help with that."

"I don't want your help. Besides, why do you care about me? I'm just another demigod," Nico said, doing his best not to tremble in terror. He maintained eye contact with Cupid, though it felt like looking directly at the sun.

"I'll be honest with you. I want a champion, someone to carry out my deeds on Earth, as my spirit is bound here. I can sense you are the only one who can do this for you. I am willing to give you any prize you wish in return." Mist suddenly swirled all around Nico and Cupid, and curling in the white fog Nico saw strange visions.

The first thing he saw was Percy and Annabeth screaming at each other. "Would you still have Percy Jackson?" Cupid whispered in his ear. Percy shouted one more thing and ran away as Annabeth faded into mist. "He is tied to the daughter of Athena, but love is quite fragile. It wouldn't be hard to change his taste in lovers." Percy ran up to a vision of Nico, and kissed him softly. Nico couldn't deny it gave him pleasure to see one of his childhood fantasies come true. Percy Jackson had been his dream for a long time. But Percy and Annabeth were good together. Nico didn't want to ruin that.

He raked his hand through the mist and the image vanished. "Jason Grace, then?" Cupid suggested. Nico suddenly saw the son of Jupiter sitting next to him on his bed in Cabin 13. Jason tentatively reached out and grabbed his hand, a small smile growing on his face. "He was one of your closest friends on the Argo II. He was open to you, and kind. One of the first to accept you as you are. Adding a little romance would only sweeten the relationship."

"Just stop it with the visions, okay?" Nico shouted, standing up. The mist dissipated as quickly as it had come. He stared at Cupid, resentment boiling in his chest. "I will never be your champion, no matter what you offer me. You are one of the cruelest gods I know, even worse than Ares, for Hera's sake! Just stick to your little plan. Let love find me when it's supposed to. If it doesn't, that's okay too. Just don't talk to me again. Now, send me back to camp!" he commanded.

Cupid's harsh smile faded into a grimace. "You have one chance to reconsider. I would recommend it."

"Sorry things didn't go according to plan. Things don't always work out for people, even gods," Nico told him.

"You'll regret this, diAngelo. My offer stays open, but it may not always be the case. Take this with you," he said, pressing something small and soft into Nico's palm. "You can use to talk to me when you change your mind."

Nico looked at it and was surprised to see a rabbit's foot on a chain. The foot itself was as snowy white as Cupid's wings, and the chain was pure gold, maybe Imperial Gold. "A rabbit's foot?"

"My sacred animal," Cupid explained. "Goodbye for now, Nico diAngelo."

Suddenly the landscape around began to fall away like chunks of an iceberg, until Nico was standing on a lonely island in the middle of canyon. Even his little plot of land fell away into the pit, and Nico screamed as everything faded to black.

He shot upright in his bed in the Hades cabin. It had only been a dream, though it felt eerily real. With a shock, he realized the rabbit's foot was still clenched in his hand. Disgusted, he threw it away into the farthest corner of the room. He tried to get back to sleep, but Cupid's offer kept swimming in his head. And his threat. _You'll regret this, diAngelo._ Love was a horrible enemy to have. He lay awake there until morning, the words of the love god echoing in his mind.


	2. Chapter 2

Nothing had gone wrong yet.

Sure, it had only been two hours, but Cupid hadn't swooped in on his giant wings and shot any campers in the heart.

Maybe Cupid was doing something. After all, Nico still hadn't fallen madly in love. But that could wait for a while. What mattered at the moment was sword-fighting lessons.

Nico had to admit that he loved being a camp counselor. The little kids looked at him like he was a god, and there was nothing more rewarding than seeing a new camper swing a sword correctly for the first time.

"Good form, Kelsey, but you need to go faster," he instructed a little daughter of Athena. "James, you have the opposite problem. You're plenty ferocious, but you're not going to kill any monsters like that." He ran over and guided the little boy's arm. Of course, two seconds after Nico left him he went right back to wildly hacking at the air in front of him.

He was surveying all of his pupils attack their imaginary enemies when something in the sky caught his eye. A thin projectile arcing through the air over the arena. It went down somewhere in the central green. It almost seemed like an arrow, but that was ridiculous. Who would be using the campers as target practice?

Still, something about it seemed very off to Nico. He shook of the feeling and continued talking to the kids. "Bjorn, if you want to get a good hit in, you'll have to-"

He stopped mid-sentence when he saw the source of the arrow. Just for a minute, the air shimmered above his head. It almost seemed to take the shape of a transparent man. A man with giant wings.

Just a trick of the light, probably. A vision conjured by Nico's frazzled mind. But an arrow arced out from that exact spot and with incredible accuracy slipped through the open window of the Hecate cabin.

"Cupid!" he shouted at the invisible god.

"Nico?" Jenna asked, clearly confused.

"You guys are doing great, keep practicing. I'll be right back," he told them as he ran for the entrance. "And no stabbing each other!" He heard James grumbling as he took off for the Hecate cabin.

He knocked on the door and Wesley answered. "Hey Nico. Come on in," he said, and Nico saw that there was only one other person in the cabin. Lou Ellen sat on her bed with a dreamy look on her face and a white arrow sticking out of her neck.

"Oh my gods!" Nico screamed. He ran over to her and pulled her to her feet. "Don't worry, Lou Ellen, we'll get you to a healer!"

"A...what? I'm fine!" she complained.

"There's an arrow in your neck!" he shouted. She gasped and felt around her head, but her hand passed through the arrow like it didn't exist. "Oh, you scared me, Nico! Why would you say that?"

"Because...it's right there..." he mumbled. Suddenly the arrow seemed to sink into her skin, though it didn't poke through the front of her neck. It almost seemed to be dissolving into her. "Uh...never mind." He left the cabin before anyone could ask questions.

As he started back for the arena he bumped into Percy. "Oh, thank the gods! Would you take over my class? I really have to go," Nico pleaded.

"Whatever you need, dude," he said, shining his brilliant smile. His sea green eyes danced with amusement. Nico tried not focus on his face.

"You're a lifesaver. Thanks," he said, charging off for his cabin. Finally he reached the menacing Cabin 13.

He and Annabeth had worked over the past few months to redesign the interior to suit Nico. He was the only one who ever used it, after all. He had replaced the garish underworld theme with some simple modern furniture. He gave himself a gorgeous and ridiculously plush king bed on one side of the room with an equally comfortable twin bed on the other side for when Hazel visited. He needed the rabbit's foot from Cupid, and last night he had chucked it towards her side. Sure enough, he saw it peeking out from underneath her bed. He pulled out and felt the presence of Cupid in his mind.

"What are you doing, shooting at campers?" he thought as angrily as he could.

"All just part of the _plan_, as you put it," the rich voice of Cupid answered back.

"I'm not an idiot. You expect me to believe that you start firing on camp the day after we have an argument just because it's in the plan?" Nico asked.

"Fine, you've got me. But I warned you. You spurned my offer, now you'll pay the price."

"How is this _me _paying the price? You're messing with kids I have nothing to do with."

"But you feel very guilty, don't you? So it is a punishment to you. I don't know why you're upset, though. I'm making people fall in love. That's a good thing. Trust me, the worst is yet to come. Lucky for you, my offer is not off the table. Say yes now, you get your dream boy, and I won't meddle any more. Seems like a great deal to me."

Nico had to admit it was tempting. Everything he wanted, and all he had to do was say yes. But he couldn't work with such a vile god. "I'll say it again: no. I will not serve you, and you will leave Camp Half-Blood alone. You understand?" He threw the rabbit foot down and the connection was broken.

Perhaps he was foolish and selfish. Sacrificing these people's love lives so he wouldn't have to be a servant of Cupid. But really, it wasn't that bad. Cupid was only making people find love. What could be wrong about that?

He tried to shake off his unease and walked back outside. Nothing seemed out of place, everyone acting as they always did. Except for one thing.

Lou Ellen was sitting across the green on a bench next to a demigod boy. Nico couldn't see their faces, but something felt strange here. This boy was definitely the one Cupid had paired Lou Ellen with, but Nico couldn't tell who he was. He started creeping closer, trying to go unnoticed.

"We can't do this," Lou Ellen whispered.

"Why not? We want each other," the boy replied. His voice sounded familiar, but Nico couldn't quite place it. He got a few feet closer.

"What about Clarisse?" Lou Ellen said back. Nico froze.

"Chris?" he said, almost involuntarily.

The two demigods turned around to look at him. Sure enough, the mysterious boy was Chris Rodriguez, son of Hermes. His face was a picture of guilt. "Nico!" he shouted.

"How can you do this to Clarisse?" he said. "After everything she's done for you! You know how much she loves you." He turned to Lou Ellen. "And what are you doing, trying to break up a happy couple? Don't you see this is wrong?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't help it, Nico. I don't know where these feelings came from, but Chris and I are meant to be," Lou Ellen explained.

"But Chris, don't you love Clarisse?" Nico asked him.

"I...well..." The son of Hermes looked very conflicted. Suddenly the transparent Cupid shaped being appeared again. He placed his hand on Chris's back and drew out an arrow, putting it back into his quiver. He vanished without a trace. "No, I don't. I just don't think we have what we used to."

"But...no! This isn't what's supposed to happen! Cupid's just messing with you! And me!" Nico pleaded with them.

"Nico, this is really none of your business. Just leave us alone," Lou Ellen complained, her soft features taking on a hard edge. She stood and began heading off for the Hecate cabin, pulling Chris behind her. He flashed Nico one last guilty look before the turned the corner and vanished from sight.

Nico couldn't believe what he just saw. Cupid had just torn apart a happy couple just to get to Nico. It felt very, very wrong. And there was only one way to stop it.

But he refused to accept that he only had one choice. He would stop Cupid, and he would stay free. He just needed a little help. And if there was anyone who knew how to deal with love magic, it was one very powerful daughter of Aphrodite.

Piper McLean was his only chance. If she failed, Nico was doomed.


	3. Chapter 3

"You did what?" Piper McLean asked incredulously.

Nico sighed. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen! I just didn't want to be Cupid's little slave."

Piper started pacing across Cabin 10. "This is really, really bad." She collapsed on her pastel blue bed and stared at Nico with her mesmerizing eyes, each one like a miniature kaleidoscope. "Cupid is quite possibly the worst god to mess with. Zeus will hit you with a lightning bolt. Poseidon will drown you. Dionysus will make you go insane. But Cupid will shatter your relationships and make people hate you. There isn't a worse punishment."

"I get that. But how do I stop him?" Piper looked at him sadly.

"I don't know. Obviously you could just be his 'champion', but that sort of seems out of the question," she explained.

"Could you contact your mom? Cupid is her minion, after all," Nico suggested.

"Maybe, yeah. She's usually down in Charleston. I'll grab Annabeth, and we'll head down there later. But first I should go make sure Clarisse is okay," Piper said, making for the door.

"I'll come too. Maybe I can help her understand what's going on." Nico started to follow her.

"I don't think that's the best idea, Nico."

"Piper, please. This is my mess, I should help clean it up," he insisted.

She begrudgingly agreed and they set off for Cabin 5. As soon as they stepped over the barbed wire, Nico could tell something was wrong. Loud sobs escaped through the thin wooden walls. That couldn't be good.

Nico and Piper carefully picked over the landmines surrounding the cabin and stood at the doorstep. Piper knocked gently on the door.

The crying abruptly stopped. "Who is it?" Clarisse's shaky voice called out.

"It's Piper," she said sweetly.

Clarisse sniffled loudly and cried out, "Come in!" Piper hesitantly pushed open the door to see Clarisse sprawled across her metal bed. She was cradling a box of tissues like it was her only friend. Her face was red and blotchy from crying, and tears pooled in her eyes. She stared at Piper with an look of intense melancholy. Her brown eyes shifted to Nico, and her expression changed from sad to outraged. "You didn't tell me he was here!" she shouted. "Nico, leave us alone!"

"Clarisse, I only want to help," he said, using his most calming voice.

"Don't worry, everything will be okay," Piper charmspoke. Nico could feel the effects washing over him. He felt like nothing would ever go wrong ever again.

"I don't know what to do, Piper. Chris just dumped me, for no reason!" Clarisse wailed. "I...I think I love him. I still love him. Why would he do this to me?"

"I'm sure it's hard to understand what's happening, but-" Piper started.

"Oh, like you know better? You've never had your heart broken! I wonder how you would be if Jason left you without a cause," she retorted.

"Chris had a cause, Clarisse," Nico interjected. "He and Lou Ellen fell in love."

"They...what?" She sat up on her bed, her back ramrod straight. "He...how? When? Why?"

"It's not your fault. I angered Cupid, and he-" Nico began, but his words caught in his throat when an arrow sailed in through the window, piercing Clarisse in the shoulder. But this arrow wasn't like the arrows Cupid had shot at Lou Ellen and Chris. While those were pure white, this arrow was as black as midnight.

"I'm going to kill Lou Ellen," Clarisse grumbled as the arrow vanished into her skin. "I will tear her limb from limb." She stood and turned to the door, but Piper jumped in front of her.

"No, Clarisse!" Piper shouted. "Revenge isn't the answer here. You have to accept that-"

"Get out of my way, McLean!" Clarisse screamed, and with one powerful swipe, she knocked Piper against the wall.

"Piper!" Nico cried, running over to her as Clarisse marched out. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so," she said, rubbing her arm. "A little bruised, but nothing serious."

"I don't know what just happened. Clarisse got struck by an arrow before she left-"

"An arrow? A love arrow?" Piper inquired, suddenly intrigued.

"No, this was different from the other arrows. This one was black instead of white. What does that mean?" Nico asked.

"Oh, gods. Did I ever tell you the story of when Annabeth and I fought Mimas in Sparta?" Piper said. Her tone seemed far too grave for storytime.

"Yeah. Why?"

"When we were there, I said something to her. I said that fear, love, and hate are almost identical emotions. Maybe Cupid can control all three," she suggested.

A cold feeling spread through Nico. "So that arrow...it was a hate arrow. It made her hate Lou Ellen."

"Really intense hate. And for a child of Ares that's a very bad thing," Piper warned.

"Alright, we have to do something. You go down to Charleston, talk to Aphrodite. I'll go deal with Clarisse," Nico said, and Piper nodded before running off.

Now for the hard part. Stopping an enormous angry Ares girl from killing Lou Ellen. He charged outside and stopped in his tracks.

Lou Ellen and Clarisse were doing battle. Clarisse was hefting her electric spear, circling Lou Ellen like a cage fighter. Lou Ellen looked scary despite her small stature. Her magical balls levitated around her, floating in her Mist. Campers stood around them, trying to intervene, but one of the girls seemed to have created a magical barrier. No one could through to them.

Chiron galloped down from the Big House. "Stop this at once!" he shouted, but they either didn't hear or didn't care.

Suddenly Clarisse leaped forward with superhuman strength, her spear aimed at Lou Ellen's heart. Lou Ellen dodged to the right and threw one of her balls. Clarisse ducked under it and continued advancing. She stabbed again, but Lou Ellen shifted the spear with the Mist. The Mist continued to curl around the spear, and Clarisse suddenly screamed as it writhed in her hand, now a snake. She threw it to the ground and looked ready to fight with her bare hands, but Lou Ellen had tossed another ball. It hit Clarisse in the forehead, and exploded into Mist.

Clarisse cursed and writhed around as the Mist enveloped her body. Suddenly she started screaming, and her movements seemed to become more labored. She froze altogether, and her screams stopped. The Mist blew away from her to reveal what used to be Clarisse LaRue.

"Lou Ellen! You turned her to stone?!" Wesley shouted. It was true. Clarisse was now a hunk of rock, her face frozen in an expression of terror and pain.

"Turn her back this instant!" Chiron shouted.

Lou Ellen turned to him. "No way. She deserves to stay that way forever, watching the rest of the world live their lives."

"What!?" he screamed, clearly outraged. "Take down this barrier!"

"I don't think so, old horse!" She flicked her finger, and suddenly Chris was standing next to her. "I don't need this. I don't need any of you! Chris, we're leaving."

"Fine by me," Chris said, an unfamiliar malice alight in his eyes. A column of Mist erupted around them, and when it dissipated they were gone.

The barrier faded, and campers surged forward to help Clarisse. "Wesley!" Chiron called.

"Yeah?" he answered.

"You're the second-best magic user at camp - I suppose now you're the best. How do we change her back?"

"I don't think we can," he admitted. "Spells can only be undone by the sorcerer that cast them."

He stared up at Chiron. "Clarisse is doomed."

Nico almost felt like crying. Lou Ellen and Chris's personalities had been mangled by Cupid, Clarisse might be a statue forever, and it was all Nico's fault.

"Piper, please hurry," he mumbled to himself. Cupid was tearing Camp Half-Blood apart. He had told Nico that the worst was yet to come, but what could possibly be worse than this?

He really didn't want to find out. But he had a feeling he was going to.


	4. Chapter 4

Nico sighed as another arrow flew over his head.

It had been two days since Lou Ellen froze Clarisse, and Piper still hadn't returned from Charleston. Cupid was getting more and more aggressive with his attacks, and Camp Half-Blood was is chaos.

Lacy rushed past him, kicking away a lovesick Travis Stoll. Behind him, Nyssa and Jake Mason were screaming at each other, having been cursed with hate. Cupid had also unleashed his fear arrows, resulting in a terrified Pollux fleeing from an obsessed Katie Gardiner.

It seemed like only Nico's closest friends were still unaffected. Percy and Annabeth were doing okay, and Jason was worried about Piper, so that relationship was alright. Nothing had happened at Camp Jupiter yet, as far as Nico knew, but it was only a matter of time.

Suddenly, Malcolm burst out of Cabin 6, wielding a metal ruler. He turned his head from side to side, a manic look in his eyes. He locked his sights on Nico, and screamed, "For the glory of Athena!" He charged, looking ready to attack.

Nico almost didn't want to run. Maybe if Malcolm killed him, Cupid would leave the camp alone. But a hand gripped the back of his t-shirt and dragged him away into a cabin.

"Put me down!" he shouted, and the person let go. "Look, I can save myself."

"Then why didn't you?" the person said, and Nico realized he knew the voice. He turned around and his suspicions were confirmed.

Will Solace stood there with his arms crossed, glaring at Nico. His skin was flawless and sunkissed, which made sense, what with Apollo being his father. He'd also inherited his father's unruly golden hair and bright blue eyes. A spattering of freckles dusted his nose, and his muscles were well defined, though not very large. Not that Nico noticed any of that. No one knew how to get on Nico's nerves more than Will. He just had this annoying way of...caring.

"I'm well aware that you can defend yourself. You carried an enormous statue across the world while fighting monsters the whole time, for Hera's sake! But you weren't doing anything, so I stepped in to keep you from dying," Will explained, his piercing eyes locked on Nico's.

"This whole thing is my fault. It might be better if I were dead," Nico mumbled.

"Shut up. That's not going to solve anything," Will said. "We should just go to Salona and and take down Cupid."

"Cupid is a god, we can't just-"

"Oh, please, we've defeated gods before! And he's just a minor god. We could just grab a ship and sail over there. Or, you know, you've recovered. You could shadow-travel us over there. With me healing you along the way, of course. Maybe Reyna could even come and lend you her strength. I'll Iris-message her," Will suggested, and started fishing through his pockets for drachmas.

"Will, no. We can't fix this through violence. We just have to hope that Piper can get Aphrodite to get Cupid under control," Nico said.

As if on cue, Piper's voice rang out from outside the cabin. "Nico! Gah, Clovis, go take a nap or something! Malcolm, put down the ruler before you hurt someone. Nico! Where are you!"

Nico pushed the door open to see Piper wandering around outside. She spotted him and began marching over. "Why are you in the Apollo cabin?"

"Will dragged me in here," he said.

"Oh, Will," she said, trying to hide her smile.

"Shut up, Piper." He shut the door behind them. "Now, spill. What did Aphrodite say?"

"Well, she was in her normal spot, having tea in Charleston. I found her there, and she was hysterical. She's losing her mind; she's in far worse condition than during the Giant War. Trying to keep Cupid in check is really draining her. She won't be any help to us," Piper explained, clearly frustrated.

"Piper, darling! Wait for Mommy!" a shrill voice cried out.

Piper cursed under her breath. "Oh, yeah. She followed me."

Someone, presumably Aphrodite, started rapping on the door. Will opened it, and the most beautiful woman Nico had ever seen stepped through.

Now, he wasn't attracted to women, and he'd come to terms with that. But if he were to fall in love with any woman, it would be this one. He'd heard that Aphrodite's appearance changed to be the most appealing that she could be to the person seeing them, and he could see that now. Her hair changed from curly and black to straight red and finally to thick, wavy, blond locks. Her skin flashed through nearly every skin tone Nico could think of before settling on a light caramel color. Her nose turned upwards, and her lips became more defined. Freckles appeared on her face, and her wide eyes shined bright blue. She wore a beautiful pink gown like a southern debutante, embroidered with pearls.

"Woah," he stuttered. "You're Aphrodite."

"Pleasure to meet you," she said, curtsying. Her movements seemed jerky and labored, rather than graceful and effortless like he had expected.

Will kept glancing back and forth between Aphrodite and Nico for some reason. As Nico looked at the two of them next to each other, he realized they could be twins.

"Mom, please go back to Olympus. You need to rest," Piper pleaded.

"I'm perfectly fine, darling!" she exclaimed. Aphrodite suddenly started coughing, and a dove flew out of her mouth and through the still open door.

"Um..." Will said, clearly as confused as Nico.

"I'm having a bit of trouble holding my powers together, Will, sweetie. But I have maintained my beauty through all of the trouble with Cupid." She turned to Nico. "After all, image is everything."

On the word everything, Aphrodite changed again. Her skin broke out in hives and faded to a sickly pale color. Her limbs became gaunt and frail, webbed with veins. Her gums turned black with disease, and nearly all of her teeth vanished. The few that remained rotted until they were nothing but yellow stubs. Her hair fell out in patches, and the hair that remained on her head ratted itself into a tangled mess. Her bright eyes faded to a dull gray, full of melancholy and despair. Her dress fell to pieces, the color fading and the fabric tearing, all of the pearls either cracked or totally smashed.

Nico saw everyone in the room recoil. Clearly he wasn't the only one seeing this strange version of the love goddess. As quickly as her appearance had deteriorated, though, it returned to what it had been before, her teeth growing back in and her hair reattaching itself.

"What the-" Nico started, but Aphrodite cut him off.

"Like I said, I'm having slight issues with my powers. But it's all okay. I'm fine," she said.

"So you can't stop Cupid?" Nico asked, his hope fading rapidly.

"I'm doing my best, dearie, but-" Suddenly the nightmare Aphrodite was back. "TEA TIME!" she shrieked, and threw a teapot against the wall, where it shattered into sharp shards. She morphed back again, and carried on as though nothing had happened. "-but he is showing more power than I ever knew he possessed. Rest assured, I will have him back in line by the end of the century."

"The century? But by then Camp Half-Blood will be damaged beyond repair! Camp Jupiter too, maybe. The mortal world isn't even safe!" Will exclaimed.

"Don't you think I know that?" Aphrodite snapped. She was flickering between her two forms now, like someone was flipping a switch back and forth and back and forth. She seemed to be a whirlwind of decay and ruin, but also beauty and recovery. It was really disorienting. "You'll have to deal with it, because I am in no condition to help you. I need to adjust into this new reality, and that will take a few decades at least. It pains me to see love being ripped apart like this, not at all according to plan! I will have Cupid's head for this, but I am powerless for now. I-" She stopped speaking suddenly, and her transformation stopped to. She was halfway between her two selves; part rotting and unhealthy, part glowing and beautiful. "NO!" she screamed, and her body began to violently shake. "Stop this, Cupid, my son! I say STOP!" All of a sudden, she inflated like a balloon until she popped open in an explosion of rose petals.

"What just happened?" Piper asked after a few seconds.

"I have no idea, but I don't think it was good," Will told her.

"Well, duh!" Nico shouted.

"Piper!" someone shouted from outside. It was Jason, his glasses askew and his orange shirt torn.

"Oh my gods, are you okay?" she asked, running over to him.

"I'm fine, but Percy and Annabeth need help," he said, catching his breath.

"What? Why? Are they being attacked?" Nico asked. They were some of his closest friends, he couldn't lose them.

"Worse. An attack, I could help with," Jason said, his tone grave. "They just broke up."


	5. Chapter 5

Well, the world had to be ending.

That was the only possible reason for Percy and Annabeth to break up, in Nico's opinion. They were the most natural, perfect couple he had ever seen. Heck, they'd braved Tartarus together. Nico knew from experience what that did to a person. Whoever you went through it with you would be linked with forever.

And yet, here they were, in the Poseidon cabin consoling a bawling Percy.

"Why would she do this to me?" he croaked between sobs.

"It's not your fault, Percy, don't worry," Piper said, cradling his head in her lap and playing with his hair. She was seriously laying on the charmspeak for this one, thicker than Nico had ever heard. It made him feel like none of the craziness going on at camp had anything to do with him. Still, Percy seemed unaffected.

He mumbled something impossible to make out and let out a loud sob. "Shush, it's all right. It'll all be okay," Piper whispered to him.

No one knew where Annabeth had run off to after dumping Percy. Some said she had run into the woods, others reported that she retreated into Rachel's cave or the unused Cabin 2. Either way, Cupid had made her stop loving Percy somehow, and that was unforgivable.

Nico watched Piper soothe Percy, sort of in awe. He would never be good at that, dealing with emotions. To people like Piper it came so naturally, but it was his biggest downfall.

Suddenly, a shining white arrow appeared out of nowhere, stabbing Piper in the thigh. For a moment her face flashed with surprise and longing, but she immediately returned to helping Percy.

"Oh, Zeus help me," Nico grumbled. More lovestruck demigods stirring up trouble were the last thing he needed. "Stay with Percy, guys, I'm gonna go talk to Cupid."

"Alright. Good luck!" Jason called after him.

Running through Camp Half-Blood was like running through a warzone; maybe even worse. He barely dodged a crazy demigod whirling around wielding knives, only to get hit in the head with some kind of a golden mango. A thornbush grew out of the ground and circled his legs, tripping and stabbing him, while a pig snorted in his face. His aura of death freed him from the thorns, and unfortunately, the pig as well. As he stood, a knife nearly caught him in the shoulder, but he dodged just in time. He bolted for the Hades cabin.

He slammed the heavy obsidian door behind him and made for Hazel's bed, where the rabbit's foot still rested. As he reached for it, he heard labored breathing from somewhere near him. He peeked over the side of the bed to see Mitchell and Butch making out on the floor.

"Get out of my cabin!" he shouted at them, and they scrambled to their feet, looking sheepish. Nico didn't actually think they were that bad of a couple, but he knew it wasn't what Aphrodite intended, and she should be the one making the decisions, not Cupid. They raced out of the cabin, leaving Nico with the rabbit foot.

He clutched it in his hand and thought of Cupid. "_Hello, Nico,"_ the god answered.

"What do you think you're doing? This has gone too far," Nico said.

"_Well, clearly. I have nearly destroyed the entire camp. Is that not enough to sway you to my side?" _Cupid asked.

"Listen to me, and listen well," Nico said, his voice boiling with anger. "You will stop meddling with us. You will stop meddling with anyone! You will do only as Aphrodite tells you to from this moment forward. And you will not talk to me ever again! Do you understand?"

For a moment, Cupid didn't say anything. Then his booming laugh began to echo inside Nico's skull. "_You do realize you can't charmspeak, right? Mere threats from a demigod will not scare me. Perhaps to rattle you I will have to hit a little closer to home. Like with that sister of yours?"_

Nico's heart pounded in his chest. "If you even think about touching Hazel-"

"_Oh, have I struck a cord? I wonder how she'd feel if that Frank boy left her. After all, praetors often become romantically involved. I could pair him with Reyna...the excuse is already built in! Child's play," _Cupid said.

"Hazel has been through enough crap in her life. Frank is all that she has. If you so much as try to-"

"_Submit to me within the hour, or their love is history. Not only that, but you can still have anyone you want! Trust me, you don't want to see what else I have up my sleeve," _Cupid warned. The rabbit's foot turned smoldering hot in Nico's hand, and he was forced to drop it.

He couldn't do that to Hazel. She was his only family. But how could he just give in to Cupid?

He decided he may as well go check back in with Percy. As he walked back up the green dodging manic campers, he noticed Piper sprinting away into the woods. Something definitely felt off about that. He decided to follow her.

He stayed about thirty feet behind her, keeping her just at the edge of his vision. Suddenly she ducked into a cave. Nico decided he may as well run for it, so he bolted for the lip of the cave. He peered inside and realized that this was the home of the Oracle, Rachel Dare.

A large, colorful bed stood on one wall of the cave, and the floor was covered in canvases splotched with paint. The cave walls and ceilings were covered in paintings of strange scenes; perhaps glimpses of the future, perhaps just random thoughts from a teenage girl. An easel faced the cave entrance, so the Oracle could have a view of the forest while she painted. Rachel herself wasn't here; she was off in New Rome, recovering the Sibylline Books. But Piper was here, and surprisingly, so was Annabeth.

_The arrow, _Nico thought. He remembered Piper getting struck. Know he knew who had gotten the arrow to match.

Piper and Annabeth were laying on Rachel's bed, kissing each other passionately. "What the Hades?!" he shouted at them, and they looked at him with wide eyes.

"Oh my gods, Nico," Annabeth whimpered.

"What is wrong with you too? You just ditch your boyfriends out of the blue and start making out with each other?!'

"We can't help it!" Piper protested. "It feels so right."

"But Percy...and Jason!" Nico reminded them.

Suddenly, two black arrows shot through the cave entrance, hitting Annabeth and Piper. Their eyes narrowed in unison. "Who cares about Percy?" Piper spat. "He was just holding Annabeth back."

"And Jason doesn't deserve Piper!" Annabeth told Nico. "He barely deserves to live."

"Don't do anything you're going to regret," he warned them.

"The only thing I regret is wasting time with Jason," Piper said.

"Let's go deal with them," Annabeth suggested, hatred clear in her voice.

"Gladly," Piper agreed, and they pushed past Nico on the way out.

"No!" he shouted, but it was no use. "No," he muttered.

Suddenly Cupid stood beside him, fully visible. "Well, Nico, the hour is up! Hazel's heart will be shattered within the next ten minutes. Unless you have a different idea?"

"Oh, just give it up, Cupid! I will never, ever help you with anything! Okay? So do what you please to me, tear me apart, I don't care! But I will not serve you," Nico promised him.

Cupid's expression turned sour. "Alright, you've made your choice. Today marks the start of the second Trojan war."

"What?"

"I figure we've already repeated two wars, it was only a matter of time," Cupid told him. "Both wars were spawned from love."

"But this isn't a war," Nico argued.

"Oh, but it will be." Cupid chuckled. He pulled all of the arrows from his quiver and loaded his bow. He fired them into the sky, and they vanished in the air.

"Where did you fire those?" Nico asked.

"Everywhere," Cupid said, firing off another round.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nico shouted to him.

"It means everywhere. Camp Half-Blood, Camp Jupiter, and everywhere inbetween," Cupid said.

"As in, mortals? You're firing on mortals now?" Nico screamed, outraged.

"Not that you seem to care. If you did, you would have ended this long ago." Another volley went up.

"Stop that!" Nico cried out.

"I will never stop until you submit to me," Cupid growled. "Now, you may want to hurry back to camp. Blood will be spilled very soon."

Nico let out a scream and pulled his sword from its sheath. He stabbed straight through Cupid's midriff, and golden ichor flowed out like a dam had broken. "Nice try, Nico. But it won't be so easy to defeat me," the god said. He vanished into the air just as the sound of swords clashing against each other reached Nico's ears.

He curse and bolted for camp. He had a war to stop.


	6. Chapter 6

"Stop!" Nico screamed as he approached the battle. Every head turned his way. It seemed as though every demigod from Camp Half-Blood were outside, wielding a variety of weapons. Percy, Annabeth, Piper, and Jason were at the center of the sea of people, their knives and swords clashing against each other.

He ran towards them and put himself in the middle of their battle. "Stop fighting this instant!" he yelled at them. "What is wrong with you? Just talk to each other, don't kill each other!"

"You're a little late, Nico," Percy said, his voice still quivering from his previous tears. "The war has started. Now get out of my way or I'll take you down too!"

"Percy, this isn't you. It's just Cupid messing with your mind! That goes for all of you!" Nico shouted.

"Nico, move," Annabeth growled.

Nico's pulse pounded in his skull. "Just stop. Please, don't do this."

"We have to," Jason whispered, his voice barely audible.

"Out of the way, Nico," Piper warned him.

"I won't move," Nico told them. "This has to stop."

"Then I'm sorry," Percy said. "But it can't."

Both sides surged forward. Nico shut his eyes and braced himself, but no strike came. Instead, he heard a familiar voice cry out in pain. He opened his eyes and saw Will Solace at his feet, blood gushing from his chest. Annabeth's knife dripped with blood.

"Why would you do that? You idiot!" Nico screamed, cradling Will's head in his hands. He could feel hot tears dripping down his cheeks.

"Trying...to save you," he managed, grimacing from the pain.

Nico grabbed his hand and pulled them away into a shadow. They reappeared in the infirmary. "Teach me how to treat you!" Nico shouted.

"No, Nico. Go deal with them," Will insisted.

"Don't be stupid, I'm not going to let you die," Nico told him. "Now how do I treat you?"

No response.

"How do I treat you, Will?" he screamed. Suddenly he felt it; he sensed death. "No, no, Will..." he muttered, his tears flowing more freely now, pooling on the metal floor of the infirmary. His anger turned to rage. Rage at Will, rage at the campers, rage at himself, but most of all, rage at Cupid.

He had to stop Cupid at any cost.

He ran out of the infirmary faster than he thought was possible, adrenaline fueling him. The battle raged on, and the green grass was turning red from blood. He leaped over fallen demigods; nothing could stand in his way.

He reached the center of the battlefield just as Jason stabbed at Annabeth, catching her in the neck. She screamed and fell as Piper roared with anger. She stabbed Jason in the arm and moved for Percy, but he was too fast. He parried her attack and swiped at her with Riptide, decapitating her with one swing.

Nico blocked it all out. He couldn't afford to be distracted. The door to the Hades cabin was so close. All of a sudden, Malcolm came up in front of him, wielding a club. Nico had no choice but to open the ground beneath him, sending him to the Underworld the hard way.

He pulled open the doors and raced inside the Cabin that had become his home. Blood spattered against his back, but he didn't even notice. He saw the rabbit's foot sitting on Hazel's bed. He leaped for it, scooping it up into his hand.

He felt Cupid eagerly awaiting him, hungry to hear his next words.

"Take me," Nico whispered, and the world shifted around him. The battle was suddenly thousands of miles away. Instead, he stood in the incredibly peaceful ruins of Salona.

Cupid materialized in front of him. "Well, well, well, it looks like you finally came to your senses."

"End the fighting. Stop it this instant or no deal!" Nico screamed at him. Cupid held up his hand and the world seemed to slow. The birds in the sky stopped moving, instead levitating in the crystal clear sky. The people in the distant town of Split froze, and the clouds of dust blowing through the ruins stopped twisting through the air.

"The fighting has halted," Cupid said. "And so has everything else."

"Look, I'm willing to be your 'champion' if it means the fighting stops," Nico told him.

"Done. I swear on the River Styx that once you become my champion, I will not make the demigods or the mortals fight anymore," Cupid promised.

"Fine. I swear on the River Styx to serve you, Cupid, as your champion," Nico said. He felt something lock into place, something impossible to move back. Cupid started laughing cruelly, reminding Nico exactly why he didn't want to do this.

"Nico, let me tell you why I needed _you _to be my champion rather than any other demigod. You have gone through more emotional turmoil than any other demigod in history. First losing your mother, then your sister, falling in love, isolating yourself, and then finding confidence. Getting a new sister, falling into Tartarus, being trapped in a bronze jar, being forced to admit your feelings, building friendship, and finally being accepted. You've experienced a full range of emotion, more than anyone ever before, even gods. Such raw emotion mixed with your incredible power makes you a wonderful ally and a dangerous enemy."

"What's your point?" Nico spat. He didn't need reminders about his past, especially Tartarus.

"My point, is that with you on my side I can grow from being the god of love to the god of all emotion. Perhaps the most powerful god of all, surpassing even Zeus." Cupid approached him. "It won't be hard. Surely you've heard the stories of the Olympian gods turning demigods into gods? They offered to do it to Percy Jackson two summers ago, I believe."

"Yeah, I know the stories," Nico said. He didn't like where this was going.

"It is not an easy feat for a minor god, but I am far more powerful than the other gods realize. It is child's play for me," Cupid said, and he grabbed a hold of Nico's wrist.

Suddenly Cupid's eyes began glowing intensely, like searchlights. A supernatural wind circled around them, lifting them a few inches above the ground. Magic pulsed from Cupid to Nico in the form of red waves, seeping through Nico's skin, making his body throb. His vision began to dim, his body shutting down as Cupid performed the spell. "Welcome to godhood, Nico diAngelo," Cupid whispered to him as he lost consciousness.


	7. Chapter 7

Something was very, very wrong.

Nico felt better than ever as he opened his eyes; stronger, smarter, and more powerful. But he had never felt more wrong.

He was laying on a plush blood red bed high on a hill over the ruins of Salona. He looked down at his body and saw he was wearing his old jeans, skull t-shirt, and aviator jacket, which had gotten destroyed that summer. How were they back now? His normally pallid olive skin now glowed with life and health. He had never been very muscular, but now they bulged all across his body.

For the life of him he couldn't figure out what had happened. The last thing he remembered he was at Camp Half-Blood, and then...oh, gods. "Did that really happen?" he whispered to himself.

He slid off the bed and stood, and suddenly realized a much more apparent change.

Wings. Enormous black wings stretched out behind him, each one as long as his body. Where Cupid's wings were like doves, Nico's wings were like ravens. He tried fluttering a little bit, and they kicked up a dust storm. "What did Cupid do to me?"

"The best thing that will ever happen to you," Cupid said, appearing from nowhere. "You're a god now, Nico! Limitless power at your fingertips. Well, my fingertips."

"What am I...what am I god of?" Nico stammered. He was having trouble processing this.

"God of all emotion! Lyssa, Pothos, and Eris, all of their powers are yours!" Cupid told him.

"Your powers too?" Nico wondered.

"Technically, yes, but let's not get hung up on the details. The important thing is, you serve me and me alone," Cupid reminded him.

"Yes, I do," Nico said.

"With you aiding me, I shall be king of the gods! Come, we're going to Mount Olympus to put Zeus in his place," Cupid spat, his dislike of the thunder god evident in his voice.

"Fine. You already stopped the fighting?" Nico asked.

"What? No, don't be silly!" Cupid scoffed at him. "This is the most fun I've had in centuries."

"You promised!" Nico shouted at him. "You swore on the River Styx to stop the fighting once I became your champion!"

"I did no such thing. I promised that I wouldn't make them fight anymore, not that I would stop them from fighting. So, in accordance with our deal, I will not shoot anyone else with arrows straying from Aphrodite's plan. However, I am not obligated to undo any of what I have already done," Cupid told Nico.

"You dirty, lying creep! You know what you promised me, it was made very clear!" Nico screamed, rushing forward and tackling Cupid.

"Nico, get off of me! Now!" Cupid yelled, but Nico refused.

"Fix this, Cupid! End the fighting!" Nico shouted in his face.

"No! You must obey me, Nico, you swore on the River Styx!"

"So did you, but you broke your vow! Now I get to break mine!" Cupid suddenly blasted Nico back with a wave of energy.

"Keep away from me, you scummy little brat!" Cupid screamed at him.

"You don't deserve to be the god of love. The god of love should actually care about something other than himself! He should be loving and spread beauty. You don't fit that bill at all," Nico growled at him. "You don't deserve the bow," he said, and Cupid's wooden bow shot into Nico's hand. The white wood turned black where it touched Nico's skin, and the color began to spread. "You don't deserve the arrows." Those too floated out of Cupid's quiver. They stuck to the bow like iron to a magnet, and each one of them turned black too. The wood began to twist and grow, though Nico didn't notice; he was too angry. "You don't even deserve the quiver!" The quiver slipped off of Cupid's shoulder and joined the strange object growing in Nico's hand. He looked at it and saw that it had grown into a staff of dark, twisted wood, the branches at the top clutching a crystal orb. How he had made it, Nico had no idea. His new godly powers made no sense to him yet. But he felt what the staff could be used for.

"Most of all, you don't deserve to be a god." Nico thrust the staff forward, and the orb began to glow bright white. Cupid screamed in agony, and red wisps of energy trailed from him to the scepter. His wings began to decay and shed feathers, while his eyes lost their red glow, fading to brown. The wisps stopped coming off of him, and his wings crumbled to dust. "Go and join the mortal world," Nico spat at him. "See how much fun it is when you're on the other side of your arrows."

"Nico..." Cupid whispered. "Please..."

"Begone!" Nico shouted, and Cupid melted away into shadow.

"Now what do I do?" Nico thought. He still had to find some way to stop the fighting. He did have Cupid's powers now, so maybe he could just remove the arrows and get things back to normal. But first he had to figure out how to get around with his wings.

He tried flapping a few times, and he hovered a few inches above the ground. "Whoa," he muttered. He flew higher, and he felt power surging through him. He let it build up inside him, and then released it all at once, propelling him through the air at lightning speed. He had never gone this fast, even when shadow traveling. He was above Camp Half-Blood in an instant.

He was prepared to fly down and stop a battle, but no one was fighting. Instead, he saw demigod corpses piled up on top of each other, with a few living teens.

He dropped to the ground, a kid near him yelped in alarm. "Ni-Nico?" he stammered. It was Clovis, the sleepiest demigod in camp. He looked wide awake now. His blond hair was matted with blood. "You...you have wings. You flew, and you-"

"Clovis, I need you to tell me something," Nico said, folding his wings behind him. "Who survived the battle?"

"Who - oh, gods, no. Everybody," Clovis whimpered.

"No survivors except you?"

"Kayla lived - daughter of Apollo. She's healing the others."

"Who are the others? This is important, Clovis."

"Mellie's okay, though Coach Hedge died from a blow to the head."

"Oh, gods," Nico mumbled. Coach Hedge was one of his closest friends, traveling with him across the world. But there was no time to grieve. "Keep going."

"Little Harley's alright, and so is Butch. Jason survived, but barely. Percy stabbed him, and Jason hit him with a lightning bolt. Jason also hit Annabeth in her neck, and she bled to death. And Percy decapitated Piper. Other than that, I'm not sure."

Nico stood. So many were already dead, was it worth it to save who was left? If only there were some way to turn back time...

"Don't worry Clovis, I'm going to fix this," Nico told him.

"How?" Clovis asked.

"I'm a god. And a god can always find a way."

He flapped his wings and soared away to New York City.

The metropolis zoomed by underneath him, just a blur of grays and browns. He unfurled his wings and slowed to a stop in front of the Empire State Building, home of Mount Olympus.

He touched down on the roof and heard civilians screaming on the streets below. The Second Trojan War was on in full force, for everyone. He shook off his worry and pressed the up button on the elevator.

The doors slid open and Nico stepped inside. He pushed the 600 button on the wall, and the elevator shot into the sky. It opened soon enough, and Nico walked out to Olympus for the first time.

He had heard descriptions from his friends, but...woah. Mount Olympus was off the charts. The mountains floated in the air like nothing Nico had ever seen before. The place was littered with temples, each one shining like a beacon even in the bright daylight. Enormous plazas and beautiful statues were everywhere, dotting the enchanting landscape.

He suddenly remembered why he was here, and started flying towards the largest building. Soon enough he was standing in the throne room of the gods.

Zeus and Hera sat on enormous thrones at the head of the room, and Athena was reading a book on hers. The other nine thrones in the room were empty, their typical occupants off somewhere else.

"Zeus!" Nico yelled, and the king of the gods looked up at him. He squinted his eyes.

"Is that...Nico diAngelo? What are you doing in my throne room?!" he roared.

"I don't have time for chit chat. Summon all the gods!" Nico commanded.

"Wha - a puny demigod, telling me what to do?" Zeus boomed. "I will smite you!"

"I'm not just a demigod." Nico unfurled his wings, and slammed his staff on the ground, cracking the marble floor. "I'm a god. Now do what I say!" Nico tried to use his new power over emotion. Maybe he could make Zeus fear him.

It seemed to work. Zeus clapped his hands and all of the thrones filled with gods. Well, all but one. The throne between Ares and Hephaestus remained empty.

"Tell me how to turn back time," Nico said, and most of the gods started laughing.

"You can't just turn back time, kid," Ares grumbled. "The only one who could even try to do that was Kronos, and he's long gone."

"I'm actually working on something-" Hephaestus started, but Athena cut him off.

"Didn't we agree not to make a time travel machine?" she interjected. Hephaestus leaned back in his seat, pouting.

"Artemis, you control the moon. Could you make it spin backwards or something?" Nico suggested.

"I don't think so. The most I could do is change the tides," Artemis admitted.

"Not without my permission," Poseidon grumbled.

"Apollo might be able to, though," Artemis said. "Unfortunately Zeus banished him."

"Well, then bring him back!" Nico yelled.

"You don't understand, Nico. He defied me, and-"

"Don't you understand what's going on down on earth? The world is in chaos! And we're the only ones who can stop it. Please, just bring him back, if only for a moment!" Nico pleaded. He tried using his power in a different way now, making the gods sympathize with the demigods and mortals below. Zeus almost looked like he was tearing up.

He clapped his hands again and Apollo appeared in the empty throne. "What the - Dad? You brought me back?"

"We need your help, Apollo. You are the only one who can turn back time with your sun magic," Zeus told him.

"Turn back time? I suppose it's possible, but I could never do it on my own."

"We will lend you strength, brother," Artemis told him.

"But time magic is the most difficult magic there is. Even with eleven other gods aiding me-"

"Twelve," Nico added. "I'm a god too."

"What? When did - you know what, I really don't care. The point is, thirteen gods all working together may not even be enough."

"Then bring more gods here, Zeus. Every god you can think of, whether they're impossibly minor or primordial. We'll need all of them if we're going to save the world," Nico told him.

He could feel Zeus fighting his magic. He really didn't want to summon all of the gods. But Nico pushed harder, and Zeus's will broke. He clapped his hands once more, and the throne room was suddenly filled to the brim with gods of every shape and size. He spotted Geras, the god of old age, and a shining woman who could only be Hemera, goddess of day. Every minor god he had ever come across or even read about was in there somewhere. Some of the gods didn't even look Greek or Roman, decked out in Egyptian clothes or Norse garb. "Is this enough for you Apollo?"

"We can only hope," the sun god said. He moved to the center of the room, and a miniature version of the sun appeared within his hands. "How far back do we need to go, Nico?" he asked.

"Four days should do it," he told Apollo.

"Alright. Once we start, everything outside of Mount Olympus should go back in time."

"Wait!" Nico shouted. He concentrated, and Cupid appeared at his feet.

"Nico? Have you changed your mind?" he asked.

"Never, Cupid. I just don't want you to turn back into a god when we go back in time." Nico looked up at Apollo. "Begin."

"Everyone, lend me your strength!" Apollo called out. Nico gave him everything he had within him, and he immediately felt drained. Apollo began twisting the miniature sun, and the world around Nico began to shift. He could feel time stretching around him. He was tempted to leave Olympus and become human again, but he felt that he was one of the biggest contributors to Apollo's magic. If he left, the spell would fall apart.

They all stood there for what felt like forever, and by the time Apollo called out, "It's over!" Nico felt like he was about to pass out. Could gods pass out?

Most of the vanished, back off to wherever they were before. Nico stumbled over to the edge of the cliff, and far below him he could see Camp Half-Blood. His vision was superhuman now, so he looked closely and saw everyone running around, going about their daily business. No carnage, no battles, and everyone was still alive.

His heart soared when he saw Will Solace, alive and well, running across the commons area to talk to Jason. He looked really worried for some reason. What could that be? He thought back to that day, what would have happened then, around noon? Nico remembered he was chatting with Will in the infirmary about that time, but nothing really bad had happened.

Except...this time Nico wasn't there. Will must have been talking to past Nico and suddenly he vanished. That had to freak him out.

But Nico could never go back to camp. As if he wasn't already enough of an outcast, being the son of Hades and being gay, now he was a god. A freaking god! He seriously doubted there was any way to set him apart further.

He sighed and walked away from the throne room, the tips of his wings dragging on the ground behind him. He was more powerful than ever before, but he couldn't have been more miserable.


	8. Chapter 8

"NICO!" Zeus boomed.

Nico sat up, his back aching from sleeping on a bench once again.

Two weeks had passed on Mount Olympus, and things hadn't improved. He'd been sleeping in a shrine to Aphrodite, who had taken him on as her new Cupid, since Nico destroyed her old one.

She was still recovering from Cupid's attack on Camp Half-Blood. She would hand Nico a list every morning of the mortals he was supposed to make fall in love that day. It kept him pretty busy, flying all over the world to make people fall in love. It made him long for love himself, but the slim chances of that ever happening had flown out the window with his mortality.

Aphrodite typically called for him in the morning, so being summoned to the throne room wasn't unusual. But why was it Zeus and not Aphrodite who was calling for him today? He started walking up the stone path to the source of the yell.

He tried to keep the flying to a minimum. The wings were pretty handy, he supposed, but they felt so alien, so inhuman, that they seemed like a constant reminder of everything he couldn't do. Despite having more abilities than ever before, he felt ridiculously restrained.

"NICO, GET HERE THIS INSTANT!" Zeus shouted, and Nico could hear that he meant business. He flew forward at the speed of sound, maybe even faster, and was at the throne room in under a second. "Come forward," Zeus grumbled, clearly enraged.

Nico stepped forward cautiously. He noticed that all twelve Olympians were present, along with his father Hades. What was so important that they were all there together?

"Aphrodite, what are my duties for the day?" he asked, trying to sound calm.

"No more missions from me, Nico," Aphrodite told him. "It would be unbecoming."

"Unbecoming? Why?" he asked.

"We have come to an agreement," Poseidon told him. "My boy, do you know why Zeus was made king of the gods?"

"Well, you drew lots and he got the heavens, so he ruled. And he freed you guys from Kronos, so you hailed him as a hero." He glanced around. "Right?"

"Well, those were certainly parts of it," Poseidon said. "But in the end, he was named king because he was the most powerful among us."

"What does this have to do with anything?"

"You bent him to your will, Nico. You manipulated our most powerful god to do your bidding," Athena told him. "Logically-"

"You are the most powerful god," Zeus grumbled.

"I...what?" Nico couldn't believe what he was hearing. He couldn't be the most powerful god. He couldn't be a god at all - he was just a fourteen year old kid from Italy. And yet, here he was: in the throne room on Mount Olympus, being told he was more powerful than Zeus. "There must be some mistake."

"There's no mistake, Nico," Hades told him. All of the gods stood, and they bowed to him in unison, even Zeus, though he didn't look happy about it.

"My son...will you be our king?" Hades offered.

"Uh..." Nico stammered. From Aphrodite's messenger to king of the gods in a matter of seconds? No way.

"You would be stupid to refuse," Zeus growled. He got the feeling that if he didn't take the job, Zeus would think that Nico just thought the job wasn't an honor or important. And that was Zeus's job. He would fry Nico on the spot.

Besides, if Nico was going to be a god anyway, why not be the king?

"I accept," he said. "I'll do it."

Aphrodite clapped her hands vigorously, and Hades had never looked prouder. Nico started waking forward, but was interrupted by a horrible grinding sound. Zeus and Hera's thrones we shifting across the floor, Zeus's to the side for the men and Hera's to the side for the woman. Everyone else's thrones began moving too, adjusting to make room. As this happened, a new throne started growing from the ground where the royal throne used to sit. Black, twisted wood, just like the wood from his staff, was sprouting from the marble floor. It tangled itself into a shape resembling a throne. A massive throne, fit for a god. Silver light flashed across its surface, etching it with Ancient Greek style carvings.

Nico got closer, and the throne seemed to shrink to fit him. But...everything else in the room shrunk too. Was Nico growing? He realized he was now ten feet tall, about the same height as the other gods. The throne was now a perfect fit.

But Nico didn't want to sit just yet. He wanted to check out the carvings. He saw one on the arm of the chair depicting a demigod boy facing Akhlys. Another showed the same boy and a girl watching a second boy fight a manticore. A third was the boy laying in a...hospital bed? Another boy was in that one too, a boy that caught Nico's eye. It looked remarkably like Will Solace. Then he realized that the recurring boy was him. He was looking at scenes through his life, scenes that had shaped who he was.

Just another reminder that the gods were always watching. Creepy. Nico didn't want to be like that. On the other hand, he wanted to make sure his friends were okay down in camp...maybe they had their reasons for stalking demigods.

"Are you going to sit in it?" Hera asked politely. Nico took a deep breath. If he took the throne, it would be impossible to go back. But he lowered himself into the wooden seat regardless.

A shockwave seemed to go through the throne room, and Nico sensed it echoed through the rest of the world too.

"Well, that's done," Hermes said, standing up. "I should go get the word out to everybody. All the minor gods, the really minor gods, and...well, the two camps should know too." He started to fly away, but Nico called after him.

"Hermes, wait!" The messenger god turned around. "Please, don't tell the camps. I mean, you can tell Chiron. But make him swear on the River Styx not to tell the campers," he instructed. "Dionysus, that goes for you too," he told the man he used to know as Mr. D.

"You got it, boss," Hermes said before zooming off to Camp Half-Blood.

"From me too," Dionysus said. "I swear on the River Styx not to tell any demigods about you until they find out some other way."

"Good," Nico said. He stared out at the other gods. They all looked like they expected him to be saying something. "Um, dismissed."

That seemed to satisfy them. Most of them vanished, but Aphrodite stayed behind. "My king, I have a request."

"Uh, sure. What's up?" Nico asked.

"I need a new servant. Someone to make people fall in love," she told Nico.

"Yeah, sure," he said, standing from his throne and spreading his wings. "I'll go find a willing demigod."

"No, no, my king," Aphrodite chided him. "It is not the place of a king to go and-"

"No, I insist. I'm the one who took away your servant, I should be the one to get you a new one. Besides, I don't really have anything else to do. You just go relax. You still need to recover from Cupid anyway. Trust me, I'll be fine," he reassured her.

She seemed to be placated. She disappeared in a burst of rose petals, and Nico took to the skies. He zoomed down to earth, and started to head for Camp Half-Blood. Maybe he could recruit a child of Aphrodite, like Lacy or Mitchell. Or a sniper, a child of Apollo. He touched down behind Cabin One. He reached out with his senses, but he couldn't find Jason in the cabin. He must have been somehwere else in camp. Nico started to sneak around the back of the cabins when a conversation caught his ear.

"Jason!" It sounded like Will Solace. "Did Chiron tell you anything?" Nico crept closer and saw the two speaking in the center of the commons area. Will looked really tired, more so than Nico had ever seen him. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his hair was wild. Jason didn't look much better. He hadn't even styled his hair that morning, which was like a ritual to him, so he must have been really distressed.

"No," Jason said. "He wouldn't even talk to me until Hermes left. But I'm sure he'll talk to us then. Who knows? Maybe Hermes found him."

_Him. _Nico. They were looking for him.

"I think we should head out again. Today," Will said.

"We already have a bunch of people searching. Percy's searching the ocean, and asking the fish if they've seen Nico. Annabeth is checking with the mortal police, and Piper is trying to get the word out about him. Reyna, Hazel, and Frank are searching the ancient lands. Our job is stay here in case he comes back," Jason told him.

Will took in a couple shaky breaths. "I know...I just want him back," he whimpered. Jason hugged him, and with his super vision Nico could see they were both crying. He couldn't take it. He took off like a rocket, not caring about who saw him. He could hear Jason and Will shouting in alarm, but they were far behind him now. He couldn't go back to Camp Half-Blood; he wasn't ready. But he needed a demigod, so there was only one other place to go.

He soared off towards California, away to Camp Jupiter. He tried to think of someone that would be good in this job. Who would be unswervingly loyal to Aphrodite, and have enough determination to get the job done every day? If they already had a little love magic too, that would be a plus, but he hadn't met any children of Venus during his time at Camp Jupiter. Although, he had met one during the battle at Camp Half-Blood...

He dropped onto a building in the Forum, silent as an owl. No one eating food below him seemed to notice. He scanned the crowd, hoping he just might see the demigod he was searching for. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a tall, bulky demigod walking away towards the camp.

It wasn't necessarily him, but it was somewhere to start, at least. He shadow traveled over to the boy, appearing in front of him.

It was him. Michael Kahale. The enormous Hawaiian demigod jumped back and reached for his sword, but it wasn't there. No weapons inside the Pomerian line, after all.

Before he could shout for help, Nico flew at him, knocking him away into the trees. "Please be quiet. It's me, Nico," he said, holding his hand over Michael's mouth. He cautiously removed it and Michael didn't say anything. He got off of him and the stood up together.

"You didn't have wings last time I saw you. Or the staff. Or the strength. Aren't you missing or something? What happened to you?" he asked.

"Look, I don't really have time to talk. Are you interested in being a god?" he asked. Michael just stared at him. "It's a pretty good job, really. You'd be taking the place of Cupid, making mortals and demigods fall in love around the world. It's okay to refuse, but could you recommend anyone?"

"Um...what? Like, immortality and everything?"

"Yeah, that's part of the whole god thing. Are you in, or do I have to erase your memory?" Nico asked.

"Why are you the one offering? Did Zeus send you? Or my mom?" he asked.

"I'm a god, actually. King of the gods." He added the last part almost like an afterthought. He'd adjusted to being a god over the past few weeks, but king? The shock was still catching up to him. Michael couldn't have been more shocked if Nico had told him he was secretly a rabbit.

"You're the - what? You-"

"I need an answer, Kahale. Are you in or out?" Nico asked.

"I - I'm in. Definitely. There's not really anything for me here. I'm just another demigod. But up there, on Olympus...let's go," he said, his voice steely.

"Well, grab on then," Nico told him. Michael didn't really seem to know where to place his hands.

"Um-"

"My shoulders. Put your hands on my shoulders." It was a little awkward, given that Nico was so much smaller than Michael, like they were about to do some bizarre dance.

Suddenly the bushes rustled near them. It was Leila, daughter of Ceres. Nico looked away; no one could see him here. "Michael?" she said, bewildered. "What are you-"

Nico couldn't risk any more time there. He disappeared into the shadow of a tree, dragging Michael with him. He could hear Leila gasp in surprise, but the noises of Camp Jupiter were quickly muffled by the layers of shadow.

They reappeared on Mount Olympus, outside of Aphrodite's palace. "Head inside. Tell your mom I said hi, and that she should make you a god. On my orders."

"Thanks again, Nico. See you soon," he said, marching up to the heavy stone doors, disappearing inside the entry hall.

Nico turned away. He wasn't quite sure what to do. What had Zeus done when he was king all day? Maybe he had all those affairs because he was really bored.

But Nico was determined to be better than Zeus, or any of the other gods. He would actually listen to people's prayers; try to make the world a better place.

He started walking off towards the throne room. He supposed that he would just be sleeping in his throne that night, but something strange caught his eye.

The mountain seemed to be growing, growing a little extension. Three gods stood at the base of the new growth, talking about something. Nico got closer and listened.

"...we need Hecate! Trust me, the kids these days are all about magic, not machines." It was a goddess, through Nico didn't know which one. She seemed to be speaking to the larger of the two men around her.

"Don't be ridiculous, Hestia! That magic goddess doesn't know a wrench from a hammer. She'd just build the palace out of her Mist. That's not sturdy at all!" So, Hestia was the girl. And one of the men looked very familiar, even from behind. Was that Hades? It certainly looked like it, and he was the one growing the rock. The one who had spoken, though, was still unknown to Nico, until he turned around. His face was uglier than any mortal Nico had ever seen, mangled and warty almost to the point of being something inhuman. That could only be one god.

"Hephaestus?" Nico called. "What's going on?"

The blacksmith god spotted him. "Ah, Nico! What do you think will be better for your palace? My designs or those of that flimsy little magic goddess?"

"Wait, my palace? You're building me a palace?"

"Of course! Where else are you supposed to live?"

"You don't have to do that. I'm more of a drifter. I don't need any-"

"Don't be ridiculous! A king needs his palace. Now, me or Hecate?"

"You, Hephaestus. And Hestia, you help him. Dad, keep doing what you're doing. When it comes to decorating the inside, come get me." He started to walk away, but he stopped himself. "Hey, do any of you know what I'm supposed to be doing?"

"Well, Zeus would sort of just sit there and throw lightning at mortals all day. So, you could do that," Hephaestus suggested.

"Thanks for the advice," Nico muttered, and he continued on his way.

Seriously though, what was he supposed to do? He definitely didn't just want to smite people like Zeus had. If anything, he wanted to help those people.

Then it came to him. He thought about all the times he had prayed to a god and gotten no response. He had wished the gods actually cared, paid attention, and actually helped when he needed it. Now he had the chance to make that a reality for the demigods down at the camps. He could listen to them and help them, truly be a god for the people. And when no one was praying for help, he could just take out monsters so they wouldn't have to deal with them.

He sprinted for the cliff at the edge of the throne room and made a wild leap off the side. Just before he was smashed flat on the city street, he opened his wings and soared skyward. He sniffed out a monster, and he sensed a pack of empousai nearby. He zoomed away towards them, feeling the adrenaline rush through him, along with a spark of hope deep in his gut.

If he had to live for an eternity, he was determined to make it worthwhile.


	9. Chapter 9

Nico didn't get scared much anymore.

After fighting six hydras, 20 hyperborean giants, and over 100 karpoi, he'd learned that he was a force to be reckoned with. If another war started up, no problem! He'd send them back where they came from with one swipe of his staff.

He didn't think that he could really be frightened, but he was in for a surprise.

He heard shouting from outside, and he thought he recognized the voices. It always sounded like...no, that was silly. Why would they be there?

But as he listened more, he became horribly sure of who it was. They couldn't see him here. He leaped off of his throne and ran out the back door of the throne room.

He ran for his palace, which was still under construction, but it was livable. Hephaestus worked fast. Over the past two days he had finished everything except the tenth floor observatory. Honestly, Nico didn't think his palace needed to be so extravagant, but when they approached him with the blueprints they were so enthusiastic he couldn't shoot them down. Seriously though, who needed seven lounges? And a rooftop pool? And a team of magical servant ghosts tending to their every need?

He ducked inside and ran up the spiral staircase in the foyer. Once he reached the second floor he bolted for his scrying room. In there, he could see anything in the world with the touch a button. Along the wall was a row of panels, each one engraved with a unique pattern, and an imprint of a hand. Nico's hand, to be specific. He found the panel engraved with storm clouds and lightning bolts. Underneath it, the word Ζεύς was inscribed, written in Ancient Greek. He fitted his hand into the panel and he felt a telepathic connection form with the thunder god.

"Zeus, I need you to do something for me," he said.

"Whatever you say, my king," he grumbled sarcastically. He, out of all the gods, was the most upset about Nico becoming king. That was no surprise, of course. Zeus had clearly loved being king, but he was forced to give it up by the other Olympians.

"There are some demigods approaching the throne room. They still think you're king. Go there and pretend that you are. Make sure they don't find out I'm a god."

"Alright," Zeus mumbled, and Nico pulled his hand away. He ran over to the scrying bowl. He pushed the button, and though about the throne. The water rippled and became a window into the throne room. Nico peered over and saw an empty room. Suddenly the doors burst open and a horde of angry demigods stormed in. Nico recognized all of them.

Will Solace led the charge, his normally calm face twisted in rage. Jason and Percy were right behind him, brandishing their swords. Piper and Annabeth each held their knives out, like they expected a fight. Hazel rode in on Arion, he curly cinnamon hair sticking out from under her helmet. Frank and Reyna brought up the rear, both wearing the purple robes that showed they were praetors.

"Where is he? Zeus!" Will cried. Through the bowl, his voice sounded strange, like he was speaking underwater.

Suddenly Zeus appeared in a flash of lightning. "What are you doing here! Out, out!"

"Don't play dumb," Percy growled. "We know you have Nico."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Jason-"

"Seriously, Dad. We know. Chiron told us," Jason said.

"He...what? That's impossible!" Zeus shouted.

"Not outright," Annabeth explained. "But after Hermes left he said that he couldn't tell us what he had learned, but we may as well give up the search."

"If you sent Hermes, then you know where Nico is. Where is he?" Reyna spat.

"Just go home! You won't find him here," Zeus said, taking a seat in his throne.

"But you know where he is," Piper said. "Tell us!"

"What happened to this room?" Annabeth asked.

"Annabeth, now's not the time for architecture talk," Percy said.

"No, his throne. It moved to the side. The throne in the middle is new," she explained. Nico suddenly realized his mistake. Of course they would wonder who the throne belonged to!

"Oh, that-" Zeus started to speak, but Hazel cut him off.

"It looks like something Nico would like. I mean, I helped him redecorate the Hades cabin. He wanted chairs just like that, but we couldn't find any."

"That throne doesn't belong to Nico!" Zeus jumped in.

"Of course not, that would be silly. Nico's not a god," Frank pointed out.

"No, he's not!" Zeus said. Nico wanted to slap him. Why wouldn't he stop talking? Despite all his power, he wasn't so good under pressure.

"Unless..." Annabeth muttered. Was she figuring it out? If they discovered him, it would only make things worse. Things would be so much easier if they just stayed in the dark. Forever. On the other hand, they deserved to know, after everything they'd done for him. Maybe he should just tell them...

"Get out, or I'll have no choice but to fry you!" Zeus shouted.

"Tell us where he is or we'll tear down this mountain!" Will shouted.

"I'd like to see you try, puny demigod," Zeus grumbled. Everyone looked like they were about to explode. Nico didn't think things could possibly get worse. Of course, he was wrong.

Michael Kahale took that exact moment to walk into the room. His godly transformation hadn't been as extreme as Nico's but it was still noticeable. He had grown a few inches, so he was now even more impossibly large. His skin seemed to glow faintly pink, even in the dark. Some changes couldn't be seen just by looking at him, like how he could teleport at will and his charmspeak had become ridiculously powerful. He also wielded two wicked knives, each one shaped like the wing of a dove. A single cut with one of those things could make you fall in love or break your heart in an instant. "Hey, Nico-" he said, but then he noticed the group standing in the center of the room. "Uh..."

"Michael?!" Reyna shouted. "You - I can't believe - how? Why? You vanish from camp for now reason, leaving us without a centurion, and I find you here? On Olympus, of all places?" She said all this while striding across the room to him. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Um..." he stuttered. Despite being a god, he looked terrified of Reyna.

"You said Nico. He's here, isn't he?" Piper asked. "Give him to us!"

"I didn't mean to - well, I mean - I'm sorry, I have to go," he said. He crossed his blades as he always did when he was about to teleport, but Reyna pulled out her sword and knocked away his knives.

"You're not going anywhere, Kahale," she grumbled.

"But I can't bring Nico here! He does his own thing," Michael said.

"What are you doing?" Nico screamed at the bowl, though of course Michael couldn't hear him. Confirming Nico's presence wasn't helping at all. He would just talk to Michael telepathically like he had with Zeus, but Michael's panel wasn't complete yet.

"Then just tell us where he is," Percy commanded.

"I won't reveal him!" Michael shouted. "Now leave me be! You should know better than to mess with a god."

"A god? You?" Will said, dumbstruck.

"Goodbye, demigods." With that, Michael summoned his dagger to his hand and vanished.

The group shifted their focus to Zeus. "Michael's a god now?" Frank asked. "How did that happen?"

"Aphrodite, I believe. She needed a new Cupid," Zeus explained.

"What happened to the old Cupid?" Piper asked.

"Ni - I mean, we don't know. He just vanished," Zeus said, trying to cover up what he'd almost said. But the demigods didn't buy it.

"Nico did something to Cupid. And now he's here on Olympus," Annabeth said. "Just show us to him and we'll leave you alone." She pointed her dagger at Zeus's face. "Or we could chat a little longer."

"You think you can defeat me in battle?" Zeus laughed, and it boomed across Olympus. "I am a god!"

"We've defeated gods before!" Percy shouted, hefting his sword. Things were about to get ugly.

Nico had to do something; intervene somehow. Otherwise at least one of the demigods in that room was about to get fried. But how could he without revealing himself? He suddenly remembered a power of the gods. Many of them could change their appearance. Nico had never tried, but he did then. He immediately felt the effects taking hold. His skin lightened until it was super pale, dotted all over with freckles,many he watched as his muscles shrank. He could feel his face morph and shift. It didn't exactly hurt, but it felt very wrong. His dark, wavy hair changed color and became more curly, until he had a head of orange ringlets. He could feel he looked nothing like himself, and just in time. The teens charged at Zeus, brandishing their weapons, and Nico dove headfirst into the scrying bowl.

Hephaestus had told him that the scrying bowl had this power, but he hadn't tried it until now. It was like swimming through infinite layers of mud at the speed of light. He erupted into the throne room and landed in front of Zeus, using his wings to shield him.

"Get back!" he shouted. His voice was far more nasally than usual. He tried not to let the surprise show on his face.

"What the - who in Hades are you?" Will exclaimed, stumbling back.

"That's not important. Just know that Nico is beyond help. Even the gods cannot bring him back to you," he told them. It was almost impossible to say.

"But he's here! We know he's here! Why can't he at least come talk to us himself?" Jason asked. He sounded so heartbroken, something inside Nico snapped.

"I can't - I mean, he can't be allowed to see you."

"But I've been tracking him. He's maddening close," Hazel cried. "It almost feels like he's in this room."

"Well, you were tracking him by his sword, right? They might be keeping it in here," Frank said.

_Tracking him by his sword. _Nico started to how Hazel had tracked his sword in Rome. Now here he was, wearing it, right in front of them. Maybe they wouldn't notice...

"He's wearing Nico's sword!" Piper shouted.

"He's not just wearing Nico's sword," Annabeth said. "Think about it. All of the clues: the new throne, Nico somewhere on Olympus, this wierd god with Nico's sword." She crossed her arms. "And Nico's mannerisms."

"What are you saying?" Percy asked.

"Nico is a god. And he's standing right in front of us," Annabeth explained.

It was really hard to keep up an illusion when the people you were trying to fool didn't believe it. The disguise drifted off of him like mist, dissipating in the mountain air. Most of the demigods gasped at him, staring in disbelief and dismay.

"Get out," he barked at them. "You've seen me, now get out."

"Nico," Will whimpered.

"I can't go with you. I can't see you any more, at all. My place is here, as King of the Gods."

"King of the Gods?" Jason asked in wonderment.

"It's a long story. Ask Chiron back at Camp, he'll explain. Goodbye," he told them, turning away.

"We're not leaving," Reyna insisted. "We're here for you. Come back with us. You can still be one of us!"

"But I'm not one you!" Nico shouted at them. "I couldn't be more different!" He tried to bend their emotions to his will. Frank snapped first. Nico made him see that things could never work. Then Piper. Annabeth. Percy. Jason. Reyna. He pushed just a little harder and even Hazel gave in. He focused all his power on Will, but there was some kind of wall there. Nico couldn't break through. He tried to understand what it was; it felt like determination...and...longing? Why was Will feeling that? Eventually Nico broke into Will's thoughts. He switched around the way he felt, and the entire group look sad and resigned.

"Have fun at camp," Nico whispered to them, and with a wave of his hand, they vanished into the shadows.

Nico didn't know that gods could cry. But apparently they could. Funny, how he could control other people's emotions but not his own. He vanished to a place he hadn't visited in four years.

Westover Hall hadn't changed at all. In the summer it was beautiful, a dark castle surrounded by green fields and forests. He walked over to a familiar spot, the place where all of this madness had begun.

He sat on the cliff overlooking the ocean, his legs dangling over the edge. He wiped tears from his eyes and thought about what he'd just done. The only real friends he'd ever had and he'd used magic to make sure they'd never want to see him again. That was just his lot in life. To always be alone. For eternity.


	10. Chapter 10

You would think that six months on Olympus would make Nico forget his friends at camp.

You would be wrong.

The main problem was the prayers. There weren't as many in the winter, but they were still there. Nico normally liked answering the prayers of demigods. _Help my mom get the job. _Done. _Bring my dad back from the war. _No problem. _Please, let me make a friend. _Easy. But everyday, he got one prayer that wrenched at his heart.

_Come home._ Clear as a bell, the thoughts of Will Solace would float up into Nico's ears. The one prayer Nico wanted to answer more than anything, and the only one he couldn't.

Either Nico's powers weren't as strong as he'd thought, or Will was ridiculously powerful. Nico's magic worked for a while, and Will seemed to have accepted Nico was never coming back. That worked for a month, but then Will started praying to Nico all the time to come home.

It was getting very hard to ignore. He couldn't describe how badly he would have liked to shed his wings and go back to camp, but he just didn't belong. It would feel like a lie. Besides, he had a job to do on Olympus.

He couldn't focus as long as it kept happening so he decided to just get it over with and talk to Will directly. "καλέσει Will Solace!" he shouted, and the blond boy appeared in a puff of smoke, looking very confused.

"So I stabbed him, but he didn't - what in Hades?! How did I-" he started having around at the throne room, until his eyes met Nico's. "Nico. Did you bring me here?"

"We need to talk, Will," Nico said. "We can't keep doing this."

"Doing what?"

"The prayers. I can't focus with voice in my head all day! And they're fruitless, you know that, don't you? I can never come back." Nico's voice was quivering. He wasn't about to break down. He couldn't.

"But you can, Nico! No one cares that you're a god now. You're still one of us. You're still my friend. Nico, I love-" Will's tongue seemed to trip for a moment, and he stopped speaking.

Nico's ears perked up. "You love what, Will?"

"I don't...I mean..._we _love you, Nico, all of us back at camp. Please, please, come back!" Will pleaded. Nico turned away.

"Will, I want you all to forget about me. Forget I ever existed. I'm just like Zeus to you now, a distant god. I'm not your friend, no matter how much I'd like to be your friend." He turned to Will and walked close, placing his strong hands on Will's shoulders. "I'm going to send you home now, Will. And please, don't ever-" Will interrupted him by surging forward and pressing his lips against Nico's.

Nico didn't know what to think, but he let himself enjoy the kiss. The soft caress of Will's lips was like heaven, far better than Elysium. Then Will pulled away, and the weight of the world came crashing down. What had just happened? Had Will really kissed..._him?_ Impossible. Maybe Nico's powers were acting strange, making Will feel something unnatural. Maybe he felt bad for Nico for having to live alone. But he certainly didn't...well, he couldn't have meant it.

"Uhh," Nico stammered, staring at Will with wide eyes.

"Sorry," Will said sheepishly. "But if I'm never going to see you again, I wanted to make sure I did that at least once in my life."

"You didn't...I mean, you don't _really_-"

"Nico, I've had a crush on you since I first met you at the Battle of Manhattan," Will explained. He was blushing like crazy, and Nico could feel that he had a red face to match. "I wanted to get to know you, and being your friend these past few months has been great. And I think I might be in love with you, Nico. I don't want to lose you."

They stood there in silence, staring at each other. Nico couldn't see, to find the words he wanted to use. "I, uh...I like you too, Will. I mean, more than like, like, I - well, I think you get it. But this - you and me, I mean - it can't work. I'm a god, and you're mortal. That doesn't work well."

"It can, though! Just look at Dionysus and Ariadne! A mortal and a god, head over heels for each other."

Nico thought about how Dionysus had been punished for being unfaithful to his wife and going after a nymph. "Not exactly a fairy tale romance," Nico said.

"Well, maybe it can be for us," Will whispered. He reached out and took Nico's hand, sending a shockwave down his spine. He interlocked their fingers and squeezed.

"Maybe," Nico mumbled, though more to himself than Will. Will kissed him on the cheek and Nico felt like melting.

Cupid was a sick, cruel god, but his magic sure was beautiful.


End file.
